In Doha, lull in football action no match for World Cup buzz

DNYUZ

After 17 days of nearly round-the-clock World Cup action, Monal Iyer says it is time for a breather.

“We need a break; the football has been non-stop, every day,” the 40-year-old businessman from Mumbai, India, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, the first day without a match since the opening of the tournament in Qatar on November 20.

“Now, a two-day break, and then I’ll be watching Argentina in Lusail – that will be amazing,” he said, before descending into the cavernous depths of Al Bidda metro station in central Doha.

He was on his way to Souq Waqif, a charming bazaar that has been buzzing with locals and tourists day and night since football came to town.

“Yesterday, we went to sleep very late, but we woke up and came straight to the market to have some Qatari breakfast, buy spices and souvenirs. We enjoyed it a lot,” said Ignacio, a 29-year-old consultant from La Paz, Bolivia, who is visiting Qatar along with another Bolivian and an Italian friend.

“It’s nice to have a little bit of a recovery, because it’s been very fast-paced – but we will miss football,” added Ignacio, who supports Brazil.

Thankfully for him, his favourite team will be the first back in action on Friday when they face Croatia to kick off the quarter-final stage at 6pm (15:00 GMT), before Argentina and the Netherlands square off at 10pm (19:00 GMT). The other two quarter-finals will be played on Saturday, with Morocco facing Portugal and England taking on France.

‘Best time to visit Doha’

Whatever the results, Souq Waqif will be lively. The bazaar has emerged as the top destination for post-match celebrations – whether it is Saudi fans after the shock victory over Argentina in the early days of the World Cup, or Morocco supporters following the Atlas Lions’ heroics against Spain on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday afternoon, Morocco fans were still jubilant.

“We had our tickets to go back [tonight], but we changed it to stay here for three more days and support Morocco,” said Modahmed Lioeddine, a 41-year-old finance professional.

In-between taking photographs of the souq, he and his wife said they planned to use the current lull in the action to tick some items off their Qatar bucket list.

“[It is the] best time to visit Doha; we are trying to go to many places, like the Museum of Islamic Art and the Corniche.”

Indeed, the IM Pei-designed museum and the nearby Corniche were on most visitors’ lips when asked how they planned to fill the two-day football void. Others had arranged desert safaris or a night out at one of the several fan zones dotting Doha.

“This is a cool time to let us know this city and the country,” said Maxwell Chen, a Chinese national who works for a solar energy company in Bangkok, Thailand. “I want to get to know the culture and the food.”